[un]familiar

I've always been intrigued by the uncertainty in what is familiar. When light enters a room and alters the interior, I step into a world defined by lights and darks, simplified yet at the same time filled with existential mystery. I seek these places, peaceful yet stimulating places. Seeking the new within the old, I am able to mold how I view the mundane around me in order to see the everyday through a different "lens," gaining a deeper understanding of who I am and how I perceive the things around me.

I started [un]familiar after moving into a new apartment complex. All the buildings looked the same with barely any grass or trees between them. I immediately missed home - the country roads, vast woodlands, houses spread apart with big yards, and most of all, peace and quiet. I began to see this new place as a temporary prison. I pushed myself to see the beauty in this uncomfortable place, and it was then that I noticed how abstract the light is as it enters and exits my ordinary venetian blinds.

I observe how the interior changes from day to night into day again.
It becomes a buzzing of light around sunset, buzzing with life and inspiration.
I sit and watch this apartment change in front of me, into something spectacular and vibrant...
And then I watch it go back into what I'm familiar with: flat, white walls.

Within this exploration, I want to discover different ways of seeing and experiencing the place I live in. My process is to take the thought out of the act of seeing: to fully experience what is in front of me in the present moment without prior judgements or future expectations; to see how dynamic everyday things can begin to appear. I want the viewer to become unfamiliar with light and space in my photographs, instead to embrace this idea of hushing down our busy lives and letting the familiar idea of sanctuary become something we've never fully seen before. I want to push the line between what is real and what is imagined.

Light sweeps in through the windows: I watch it silently.
I slow my body down to the act of breathing: in and out. I try not to think,
but when I do, my thoughts are of how beautiful existence is, how ethereal is the experience of light.
This experience changes my perception of the temporary, uncomfortable place I live in.

--Meg MacLeod, 2013

[un]familiar

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